Latest news with #Devey
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Yahoo
Mothers of murdered girls honoured with OBEs
Two mothers mentioned in the New Year's Honours list after campaigning following their daughters' murders have received their OBEs. Carole Gould and Julie Devey have been honoured for their work co-founding the group Killed Women after their daughters - Ellie Gould, 17, and Poppy Devey Waterhouse, 24, were killed. The women received their OBEs in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Thursday. Ms Gould, from Calne in Wiltshire, had previously said the honour was "bittersweet" but added it was "nice to be recognised for the work we have done". Both Ellie, from Calne, and Poppy, from Frome in Somerset, were murdered by boys they had recently ended relationships with. Their mothers have jointly called for an increase in the starting tariff for murders in the home from 15 years to 25 years. In March 2021, Ms Gould successfully fought to change a law on sentencing for teenage killers - dubbed Ellie's Law - so they could be given longer sentences. Those found guilty of murder below the age of 18 were previously given more lenient sentences than adult defendants. Ellie's Law had an impact on the sentencing of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, who killed three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop last year. Ms Devey said the aggravating factors they had successfully campaigned to be added to sentencing decisions are coercive and controlling behaviour prior to the death, strangulation and "overkill". Overkill is committing more force than is needed to kill somebody. Ms Devey said: "They [the Government] always say 'we wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for you' and that's hard, but it's good to be reminded of that. "So I suppose we have to take some consolation and think that may not have happened if we had not been pushing since 2019." She said the killer of her daughter's sentence would have increased from 15 years and 310 days to "nearer 19" had the aggravating factors been applied. Ms Gould similarly said her daughter's killer - who received a 12-and-a-half-year sentence - would have received "nearer to 16 years possibly". Ms Devey said: "We're still fighting for these domestic homicides to be seen as terrible, as awful, as murders that take place outside the home. "If the starting point for sentencing is lower, then it is immediately diminishing the lives of those women who have their lives ripped away from them." Unsung heroes: Parents of women killed by men among advocates honoured Mum of murdered teen calls for sentencing change Murder teen's mum calls for 'hidden homicide' data Killed Women
BBC News
27-03-2025
- BBC News
West mothers receive OBEs for work after their daughters' murders
Two mothers mentioned in the New Year's Honours list after campaigning following their daughters' murders have received their Gould and Julie Devey have been honoured for their work co-founding the group Killed Women after their daughters - Ellie Gould, 17, and Poppy Devey Waterhouse, 24, were women received their OBEs in a ceremony at Buckingham Palace on Gould, from Calne in Wiltshire, had previously said the honour was "bittersweet" but added it was "nice to be recognised for the work we have done". Both Ellie, from Calne, and Poppy, from Frome in Somerset, were murdered by boys they had recently ended relationships mothers have jointly called for an increase in the starting tariff for murders in the home from 15 years to 25 March 2021, Ms Gould successfully fought to change a law on sentencing for teenage killers - dubbed Ellie's Law - so they could be given longer found guilty of murder below the age of 18 were previously given more lenient sentences than adult defendants. Ellie's Law had an impact on the sentencing of Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, who killed three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop last Devey said the aggravating factors they had successfully campaigned to be added to sentencing decisions are coercive and controlling behaviour prior to the death, strangulation and "overkill".Overkill is committing more force than is needed to kill somebody. Women's lives 'diminished' Ms Devey said: "They [the Government] always say 'we wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for you' and that's hard, but it's good to be reminded of that."So I suppose we have to take some consolation and think that may not have happened if we had not been pushing since 2019."She said the killer of her daughter's sentence would have increased from 15 years and 310 days to "nearer 19" had the aggravating factors been Gould similarly said her daughter's killer - who received a 12-and-a-half-year sentence - would have received "nearer to 16 years possibly".Ms Devey said: "We're still fighting for these domestic homicides to be seen as terrible, as awful, as murders that take place outside the home."If the starting point for sentencing is lower, then it is immediately diminishing the lives of those women who have their lives ripped away from them."
BBC News
26-03-2025
- BBC News
'We don't want OBE - we want our murdered girls back'
Two mothers who were recognised in the New Year Honours list have said they would rather have their murdered daughters back than be given Gould and Julie Devey were appointed OBEs for their work co-founding the group Killed Women after their daughters - Ellie Gould, 17, and Poppy Devey Waterhouse, 24 - were mothers are due to travel to Buckingham Palace in London on Thursday to collect their Gould said the appointment was "bittersweet" but added it was "nice to be recognised for the work we have done". She said it had been "a gruelling five-and-a-half years".The pair have jointly called for an increase in the starting tariff for murders in the home from 15 years to 25 March 2021, Ms Gould successfully fought to change a law on sentencing for teenage killers - dubbed Ellie's Law - so they could be given longer sentences. Ellie Gould was stabbed to death at her home in Calne, Wiltshire, in 2019 by Thomas Griffiths after she ended their he was 17 at the time, Griffiths received a more lenient sentence than an adult was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 12 years and six was murdered by Joe Atkinson in Leeds in 2018 following the breakdown of their three-year was sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 15 years and 310 days. Ms Gould said Ellie's Law has had a "huge impact".She said the starting point for sentencing Southport killer Axel Rudakubana, who killed three young girls at a Taylor Swift-themed dance workshop last year, was increased by 15 years because of Ellie's was sentenced to a minimum of 52 years in Devey said the aggravating factors they had successfully campaigned to be added to sentencing decisions are coercive and controlling behaviour prior to the death, strangulation and "overkill". Overkill is committing more force than is needed to kill somebody. Ms Devey said: "They [the Government] always say 'we wouldn't be doing this if it wasn't for you' and that's hard but it's good to be reminded of that. "So I suppose we have to take some consolation and think that may not have happened if we had not been pushing since 2019." She said Atkinson's sentence would have increased from 15 years and 310 days to "nearer 19" had the aggravating factors been Gould similarly said Griffiths - who received a 12-and-a-half-year sentence - would have received "nearer to 16 years possibly".Ms Devey said: "We're still fighting for these domestic homicides to be seen as terrible, as awful, as murders that take place outside the home. "If the starting point for sentencing is lower, then it is immediately diminishing the lives of those women who have their lives ripped away from them."
BBC News
25-03-2025
- BBC News
Suicides among domestic abuse victims surpasses homicides
The number of victims of domestic abuse who took their own lives in England and Wales surpassed the amount of people killed by their partner for the second year in a row, a report has Domestic Homicide Project found 98 people were suspected to have killed themselves after experiencing domestic abuse in the year to March 2024. During the same period, 80 people were killed by a response, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) said the scale and impact of abuse was "incomprehensible".The policing organisation said it was committed to seeing more abuse perpetrators charged with manslaughter where their victims takes their own life. Bereaved relatives and domestic abuse charities have made renewed calls for authorities to act on the link between domestic abuse and April 2020 and March 2024 there were 1,012 domestic-abuse related deaths - of which almost half were domestic homicides, the majority of which were committed by a current or ex-partner. The rest were committed by another adult the same period there were 354 suspected victim suicides. Around three quarters of all victims were in the last two years in a row, the report's authors found that suicides linked to domestic abuse outnumbered homicides. The report was backed by the NPCC, Home Office and College of Policing. Julie Devey - the chair of the campaign group Killed Women, which also collaborated on the report - said she supported a proposal which would compel police to investigate any history of domestic abuse in the event of an unexpected death."For too long, these deaths have been treated as 'unavoidable tragedies' - but they are not. They are preventable," Ms Devey said the report highlights how victims and their abusers are often already known to public services prior to a fatal incident, adding that there must be a "system that joins the dots and intervenes before it's too late".A number of high-profile cases have cast a light on the link between abuse and suicide in recent year, a court in Preston was told how years of domestic abuse by Ryan Wellings led to 23-year-old hairdresser Kiena Dawes taking her own January, Wellings was cleared of manslaughter but was jailed for six-and-a-half years for assault and coercive and controlling 2023, Marc Masterton was jailed for 41 months for coercive and controlling behaviour in relation to the death of his ex-partner Chloe Holland's mother, Sharon, said the sentence was not long enough and started campaigning for a change in domestic abuse laws so that "monsters are held accountable for destroying a young girl's life". If you have been affected by issues raised in this report, details of organisations offering information and support about suicide and emotional distress are available via BBC Action Line.
